Girl power arrived on Scotland’s Highland games circuit yesterday in the shape of two US strongwomen.
Traditionally, hammer throwing and caber tossing has been almost exclusively the domain of heavyweight men.
But Californian Karina Benish and Elissa Hapner, of Chicago, turned up in tartan at the Dornoch’s gathering primed for action. They were responding to a clarion call from the Scottish Highlands Games Association to see more women get involved.
Karina, 56, “I’m in Scotland for seven weeks to do a tour of the Highland games.
“I’m not here to beat the men. I’m here to enjoy the sport and do the best I can.”
Elissa, 30, said: “In America, the women have their own class, weights and world records, so we’d like to see that in Scotland. Scotland has still to catch up.”
